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A Fairfield Inn & Suites is expected to rise as soon as spring 2014 from the rubble of the
former Concourse Hotel at Port Columbus.

The board of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority is expected to approve a 20-year franchise
agreement today with Marriott International, which owns the Fairfield brand.

“We felt the Marriott brand and Fairfield Inn were the best fit for the airport submarket and
are very excited,” said Robin Holderman, the airport authority’s chief asset and development
officer. “It’s subject to our board’s approval, but once they do, we will notify Marriott, finalize
the documents and keep this thing moving.”

The $13 million hotel is expected to have 122 rooms and 120 parking spaces, as well as a
breakfast bar, business center and fitness center.

“The Marriott is one of the top brands and the Fairfield would be well-positioned as a
mid-market, select-service brand,” said Eric Belfrage, a hotel specialist with CB Richard Ellis in
Columbus.

Select-service hotels offer more than limited-service hotels, such as Days Inn, but less than
full-service hotels, like Marriott, which have a restaurant and meeting space.

RockBridge Capital was hired to help the airport authority design, build and oversee management
of the new hotel.

“If we hit our projections, it should produce double-digit returns and we should have our
capital investment back in 10 years,” Holderman said.

Marriott will receive 7 percent of the room fees paid by guests, according to the franchise
agreement.

The Concourse was sold to the airport authority for $1 million in December, and its demolition
is expected to be completed this week.

Four other hotels are operating at the airport, and all have struggled in recent years.

The airport authority recently approved a proposal to extend the leases of the Hilton Garden and
Hampton Inn hotels through 2062, and cancel the lease of the Comfort Suites, paving the way for its
demolition.

All three are in receivership.

The fourth, Americas Best Value Inn, is also in receivership and is owned by mortgage holder
Delaware County Bank.

“There’s always a certain market segment that prefers to stay at an airport hotel, for the
convenience, the location; they can conduct their business and depart,” said Geri Lombard,
chairwoman of the Ohio Hotel and Lodging Association’s Columbus Lodging Council.

She is also general manager of the Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel, which is a Marriott
hotel.

Belfrage is optimistic that the Fairfield and the other airport hotels can do well.

“They’ve struggled because of ownership issues and, being in receivership, there hasn’t been any
money spent on them in quite a while,” he said. “The economy is struggling, but the trend is
improving and the airport spending so much money on renovation suggests maybe better days are
ahead.”

The airport authority is also expected today to approve its previously announced plans for a
three-year, $80 million renovation of the terminal.